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The matriarch of the giraffe herd at St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo has died at the age of 23.

Zoo officials said Daisy the giraffe was euthanized early Thursday. She had been suffering from severe degenerative arthritis, and zoo staff noted how that is particularly difficult for a large animal that spent 20 hours a day on her feet. 

They said her quality of life had declined to a point where zookeepers decided to euthanize her.

“These decisions are never easy and are made after exhaustive discussions and all options are considered,” Como Zoo officials said in a statement Thursday. “At the end, Daisy was surrounded by those who loved and knew her best.”

Daisy came to Como Zoo from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in 2002 as part of a Species Survival Plan program. She had 

, many of which are now living in other zoos. At 23, zoo officials said, she had “far surpassed the life expectancy of female giraffes in the Species Survival Program.”

“Daisy was a strong, beautiful matriarch — quick to judge and slow to accept her human coworkers,” Senior Zookeeper Jill Erzar said in a statement from the zoo. “She was a fierce and protective mother who would do anything to keep her calves safe. She was an extraordinary ambassador for giraffe, helping us connect visitors to her wild counterparts by telling her story.”

The Como Zoo has two other giraffes in its herd: Clover, a female; and 

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The matriarch of the giraffe herd at St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo has died at the age of 23. Zoo officials said Daisy the giraffe was euthanized early Thursday, after suffering from severe degenerative arthritis.

Daisy, matriarch of St. Paul's Como Park Zoo giraffe herd, dies at age 23

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